Iraq seeks $88.2 billion for post-IS reconstruction

The country is still reeling from the dramatic rise of IS and the punishing fight to recapture territory, with swathes of Iraq in ruins and millions of people displaced.

Authorities in the resource-rich nation say there has been a heavy toll on oil, electricity and manufacturing infrastructure, as well as basic services such as water and sanitation.

Baghdad is looking to drum up funds at a reconstruction conference in neighbouring Kuwait from February 12 to 14 after announcing the defeat of IS late last year.

The $88.2 billion estimate was based on an assessment study by Iraqi and international experts, the planning minister said.

Qusai Abdelfattah, director general at the planning ministry, said $22 billion of those funds were needed immediately and the rest for the medium term.

"We have started some reconstruction programmes in areas affected by war," said Mustafa al-Hiti, head of the reconstruction fund for areas hit in the fight against IS.

"But what we have accomplished is less than one percent of what Iraq needs," Hiti said.

He said funds are urgently needed to "restore basic and infrastructure services" in many provinces.

"We have more than 138,000 houses damaged, more than half this number completely destroyed," Hiti said, adding that more than 2.5 million Iraqis are still displaced.

The Kuwait conference's second day will be devoted to the private sector's role in rebuilding Iraq, with more than 2,000 companies and businessmen due to attend, according to the Gulf country.

International organisations are to speak on the first day, while attending donor countries are expected to make announcements on the third.

Since the 1980s, resource-rich Iraq has been battered by war and international economic sanctions.